Why are trainers washing up in Canada with rotting human feet inside?

A gruesome mystery has gripped Canada: Why are human feet washing up on beaches, still in their trainers?

It has been dubbed the ‘Nike Phenomenon’ because the body parts started to appear at around the same time running shoes started to have air pumped into their soles, which allows them to float more easily.

Nike was the company to pioneer the ‘Air Max’ trend, according to the Seattle Pi.

Earlier this week, a hiker found the 13th foot washed up in the district of British Columbia since 2007 alone.

He stumbled over the running shoe on Sunday afternoon, and when he investigated realised it contained rotting human flesh still in a sock.

Charlotte Stevens was with her husband when he made the grim discovery. She told CBC: ‘He picked it up and brought it out on to the beach, and we had a look at it for about five minutes and we thought, it almost looks like there is an actual foot bone in it.’

The regional coroner’s office is investigating who it belonged to and how they died with no suspicion of foul play at this point.

‘I believe most of these were determined to be suicides,’ coroner Matt Brown told the news channel.

According to the Coroners Service, the most recent foot appeared to have ‘disarticulated naturally’ from the rest of the body due to the push and pull of water.

Many people are likely to be missing in coastal waters, and when their bodies decompose parts of them may float away.

Of 12 previous feet in British Columbia, 10 feet belonging to seven people have been identified.